As the Trump administration takes sweeping steps to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, the agency is still deciding what the future holds for special education.
The Education Department said this week that it is entering into six so-called “interagency agreements” with four other federal agencies to “co-manage” programs related to K-12 education, postsecondary education and more.
Notably, however, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, or OSERS — which houses offices overseeing implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and vocational rehabilitation — is not included. Neither is the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, which handles disability discrimination complaints.
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“We are still exploring the best plan for OSERS,” a senior Education Department official said, adding that the agency is “exploring options and the best plans for the future” for OCR.
President Donald Trump said in March that he would move oversight of “special needs” programs to the Department of Health and Human Services as part of his goal to shutter the Education Department. And last month, the Education Department confirmed that it was “exploring additional partnerships with federal agencies to support special education programs.”
Initial reports indicated that OSERS and the civil rights office would be part of the agreements this week and disability and special education advocates still widely expect that such announcements are forthcoming.
“I do not expect OSERS and OCR will remain much longer,” said Jacqueline Rodriguez, CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
The agreements announced this week are seen as a workaround for the Trump administration since Congress has not approved any transfer of programs or closure of the Education Department.
Under the plan, the Department of Labor will help administer elementary and secondary education programs and higher education grant programs. Other responsibilities will be transferred to the Department of Interior, HHS and the Department of State.
“Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon who indicated that her agency will “work with Congress to codify these reforms.”
The changes at the Education Department come little more than a week before the nation will mark the 50th anniversary of the IDEA. And, it’s just days after the Education Department reinstated nearly every staffer at the Office of Special Education Programs, or OSEP, as well as other agency employees who had been laid off during the government shutdown.
The layoffs — which effectively gutted the special education office — were reversed by Congress, but were widely viewed by advocates as an attempt to minimize the federal government’s oversight role in special education.
The consequences of breaking up the Department of Education run deep for students with disabilities who are general education students first, advocates noted.
“Currently, OSEP collaborates with other offices focused on general education, educational research, civil rights of students with disabilities, postsecondary education and employment of persons with disabilities. This collaboration is essential to OSEP’s mission to empower states, districts, and other organizations to meet the diverse needs of every student by providing leadership, technical assistance and financial support,” said Stephanie Smith Lee, co-director of policy and advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Congress, who served as director of OSEP under President George W. Bush. “Scattering these offices among various agencies will make this collaboration difficult, if not impossible.”
